Sade Johnson, a beloved dog trainer from Arizona, along with her competition-trained dog Simba, passed away in a heart-wrenching incident just before Christmas. The cause of death was not officially disclosed, but there are suggestions that Johnson might have taken her own life.

The devastating news was shared by Johnson’s best friend, Aaliyah Martinez, through a poignant post on Facebook. “My heart is broken in sharing that Sade and Simba passed away very unexpectedly the week before Christmas. To say I am shattered is an understatement,” Martinez wrote. She described Johnson as her platonic soulmate and expressed the profound impact Johnson had on her life, foreseeing a lifetime of mourning.

Ellie Allen Cook, a dog supplier who had known Johnson for years, also paid tribute. She recounted their first meeting in 2017 when a 13-year-old Sade came looking for a puppy. Although Cook didn’t provide her with a dog that day, they quickly became friends and maintained contact ever since. “She was a wonderfully gifted dog trainer. She had an absolutely hilarious sense of humor…I’m devastated to hear the news that life finally got too hard for her. I will wonder for the rest of mine if there was something more I could have done,” Cook reflected on their friendship and Johnson’s tragic end.